For when sane just isn’t good enough

Game review of Lego Indiana Jones: The Original Adventures (XBOX 360)

Okay, so I admit I was a bit skeptical about trying out this game. I mean, Lego? Isn’t that just for kids? But my husband’s a big Indy fan, and he wanted a change of pace in games (from first-person shoot ’ems), so we bought it. And couldn’t stop playing it ’til 11 last night!

Like Crash Bandicoot, this platformer allows a second player to join the game at any time, and with no split screen! Of course, this does limit mobility a little, but it wasn’t a problem most times.

This game has got it right in so many ways. First off, you play the game through in Story Mode. That means that you play using the original characters for each section of the movie. Each section always has two characters – Indy and another.

Once you’ve completed a section, though, you unlock Free Play mode, which means you can play through it again, using any of the characters you’ve unlocked, each of which have some special ability or piece of equipment. Marion, for example, can jump to places Indy can’t reach. Then there are other characters who come with a spanner, for repairs, or a shovel, to dig up treasure.

Free Play mode gives the game great replay potential. You can play in this mode either immediately after you’ve completed Story Mode, or you can do it once you’ve completed the entire game in Story mode. Personally, I think the latter would be the more fun way to do it.

The only thing I can fault the game on is that sometimes some bits of the graphics go a bit wonky. Gameplay itself was unaffected by this, though. And for €50 (or R250 – R300, platform depending), I think it’s worth the price 🙂

5 Responses

I’ve also wondered about this game (and the Lego Star Wars which I’ve heard a lot about) so maybe we’ll get it in future too. Sameer has motored through everything we have (Except Assassin’s Creed for some reason) and I just want something that’s short and fun and uncomplicated. Oh, and that won’t give me nightmares. 😛 I’m such a wuss game player. Though I have to admit that at the moment all my gaming fantasies are focused on one thing — Rock Band baby, yeah!!! *plays air guitar* Sameer and I played that at a game shop last week and afterwards I kept thinking “It would be so awesome to play this with the guys!” I mean think about it, it would be like Sing Star but more collaborative and more people to laugh at at once. 😀

Faranaaz – we were also considering Lego Star Wars, in aid of finding something non-nightmarish (yes, this means I’m not trying out BioShock), but since we were bigger fans of Indy, we decided to go with that. Maybe we’ll try out the Star Wars one next. Haven’t investigated Rock Band yet, but it looks like it could be fun 🙂

Hey, I was referring to Bioshock too! 😛 Just watching Sameer play that gave me the willies! If you see a Rock Band demo in a game shop you should so have a go! You’ll be instantly hooked! It’s a bit expensive but man, so worth it I think!

Well, I’ve got my hands on Lego Indy for DS…I can’t compare it to any of the other platforms because I’ve not played them, but it certainly is fun. It sounds a lot like the one you’re playing, but without a direct comparison, I can’t tell what’s missing from my version other than higher resolution graphics and sounds.